American's Really ARE Wimps!

You know how Europeans always say Americans are pussies for playing American football instead of the much more violent rugby? Well, its not just football. I have just been introduced to Motorsport, which makes Nascar racing look like a Sunday drive with Grandpa.

I'll explain this to you, but then I will provide some links to prove it, because I did not actually believe G when he described it to me. I figured he was exaggerating a bit, but he really wasn't. I've just found it on the tv, and I am watching with my mouth hanging open in astonishment.



Motorsport (which seems to also be called Autosport on some sites) is racing, but instead of a nice tame well maintained race track, these psychopaths race through cities and small towns. Right through the twisty turny narrow little streets, with houses and businesses on either side and nothing but a rope to separate the crazy spectators from the "track!" They even race AT NIGHT! This weekend, the "Rally van Haspengouw" is in Landen, and at all hours of the day and night we can hear the sounds, sounds I haven't heard since my childhood trips to Unity raceway. The cars are skidding around impossible turns, wheels locked, pieces at times falling from their cars. Spectators stand by seemingly unafraid as cars fly by at seemingly impossible speeds only a couple of feet away from them. They do, at least, take turns - rather than all the cars hitting the road at once, they have a timed release, and each car takes to the road alone with their time being recorded. Oh hell, someone just rolled over! Why am I watching this madness???

There are several different runs or tracks or whatever they call them set up around Landen, and while the tracks are closed off, the cars (and all the crazy fans intent on mimicking their heros) drive from one run to the next, terrorizing innocent bystanders and nearly running over my poor husband twice on his way to his old apartment. It is simply astonishing to me how dangerous this is, even to ordinary people just trying to go about their lives!

This page shows an advertising poster for the Rally van Haspengouw. The structure in the upper right hand corner is the Landen water tower. A video of last years rally in Landen is here, but it makes it look as though they only race through corn fields, which simply isn't true. This video shows some crashes, and also shows how close the spectators are allowed to be.

G says he has hated this weekend since childhood, and that he's lost a number of family pets to Motorsport! We will definitely be keeping Luna INSIDE on rally weekends! I can think of several family members who are probably saying, "Great, when is the next one, we'll be getting our plane tickets and coming to visit!" And to that I say, your welcome to visit, but you can go and watch this madness ALONE. I am staying inside!

Laundry Baskets and Tortilla Chips

Excellent news! My belongings arrived in Antwerp on the 23rd, and the shipping company has scheduled delivery for next Wednesday, March 3rd, at 8:30 AM!!! It looks like baby won't be sleeping in a laundry basket after all, which is a good thing seeing as we don't own a laundry basket. Things could still get flummoxed up by customs, so keep your fingers crossed! We still have a lot to do to get ready for the baby, but it will be a bit easier having some baby things around!

We have both been extra excited about the baby since we saw the ultrasound on Tuesday. She's so big and so adorable and she looks like she wants to be cuddled! :) I have been daydreaming about little fingers and little toes and raspberries blown onto bellies. And to make me laugh, G suddenly burst into a hopping dance yesterday while singing, "We're having a baby, We're having a baby!" LOL A couple days ago I was sitting at the table with my head in my hands, making my cheeks puffier than usual, and G said, "When you sit like that, Luna looks just like you!"

Sunday is G's birthday, and I am sad to report I have not managed to get him a present. Its a bit hard with my immobility, and the only stores I ever visit he is with me. He says me being here is present enough, but I so wish I could think of something. :( I can't even bake him a cake because our oven is so screwed up.

In other news, I am desperately craving spicy food. Tex-Mex in particular. A great big taco salad from Pedro O'Hara's, a pile of tortilla chips, warm from the oven and dipped in Sisters Salsa, a big messy chicken taco. Siiiigh. I have not seen any tortillas here, and I saw one jar of a rather pathetic looking salsa. Yes, I can cook, but the ingredients seem to be a bit scarce. G says there are Mexican restaurants in the bigger cities, so I guess I'll just have to wait until I can travel to some bigger cities. Wow, I feel like such a bitch for complaining about the food right now, because G is out on his bicycle going to the grocery store and it has just started POURING rain. :(

She's Pretty Even When She Pouts

This is the beautiful Luna Doris at 34 weeks. I know, I know, on first glance its 2 pictures of blobs. But look for a few minutes, all of a sudden her face emerges. Both images are extreme closeups of her face. That round light spot in the middle is her little nose, and to the right of the nose are her eyes, which are closed. To the left are her pouty little lips, and the largest light spot is one of her chubby little cheeks. We had trouble at first, too, but once we figured out what was what, we were mesmerized. We watched her pout her little lips and her adorable little chubby cheeks move. She let us get a good look, and then turned her face towards my back as hough to say, "Alright, that's enough."

She is 5.2 pounds and 16 inches long so far, which is quite normal sized. Her hobbies include staying up all night and kickboxing... on mommy's ribs. The doctor says everything looks good so far. Three weeks until "full term," and six weeks until my due date on April 5th! I cannot wait to kiss those little cheeks!



In other news, G and I have been sick for the last few days with some sort of stomach bug. G has had it worse than me, probably because he has been unable to stay home from work or take a break, where I spend most of my time sleeping. We're amusing ourselves by whining in tandem. We have been eating a whole hell of a lot of soup and sandwiches and apples (which for some reason taste great to both of us right now). I will report that packaged soup here (its packed in tetra paks rather than cans and is not condensed) is WAY better than at home. I am not a huge soup fan, but I've been surprised. We had carrot pumpkin soup with mini pork meatballs the other day, it was delicious. Right now I am eating some sort of vegetable soup with vermicelli noodles. Also quite tasty. Much better than that slimy yellow ooze we Americans call chicken soup and force feed to sick people!

We have been keeping busy, or at least G has. :) I left the house on Saturday when we took a cab to the grocery store, but it was a rushed trip because the cab company was very busy. Today we took a cab to the Landen station, a train to Sint Truiden, a cab to the hospital, and a cab back to the Sint Truiden station, but we were unable to get a cab back home from the Landen station so I had to walk. It sucked, a lot, I am pathetically immobile these days. G has been busy working, and when he is not working at his job, he has been working at his old apartment, which has to be cleaned out and fully painted by the end of the month. He's hating every second of that, and its an uphill battle, but hopefully he can get it done so we don't end up having to pay a bunch of fees.

We still have not seen the policeman, but G went on Monday to meet with the woman at city hall, who went ahead and processed some of my paperwork. I now have a national number, which is what I will need for insurance, but I cannot be issued my identity card until the policeman comes, so I have no proof of my national number. We are awaiting a return call from the benefits people at G's job to see if they can begin the insurance yet. The whole thing is a confusing mess if you ask me, and I am not certain I have all the details right. The short version is: still no insurance!

Still Existing!

Sorry for the lack of posts. I simply haven't had anything to say. We went out to the hardware store on Monday, which is literally within sight of our house, and I had Braxton Hicks contractions the whole time, making it a miserable experience for me. I haven't dared venture out again since. When you never leave the house, there isn't much to talk about.

Many of you wrote to ask about the train crash on Monday. G was lucky enough to have the day off, but yes, the commuter train that was involved was one he could have potentially been working on. He still hasn't heard if he knew anyone on the trains or not. I cried to see the wreckage, and am so grateful he was not among it. My heart goes out to the families of those killed and injured.

We still have not seen the policeman, who needs to come to the house to check that I live here before I can be issued my permanent identity card. Until I have that permanent card, I cannot get health insurance and we can't get any of the married benefits G is entitled to through work. G went yesterday to city hall to inquire yet again, and learned that the policeman is on holiday. The woman who had assisted us before told him to come back Monday morning and she will try to figure out a way to help us.

We had a rare few hours of sun yesterday. I spent some time sitting at the table in our backyard enjoying the nice weather. One of the two cats we see regularly in the yard made an appearance, and with some cajoling, even came close enough to rub against my legs. It was nice, I miss my cat very much!

Our Snowy Valentine's Day

We had a lovely Valentine's Day. We did absolutely nothing. :P We had discussed maybe going to Brussels to an international bookstore, because G had noticed I am already down to only 2 books (make that 1 and a half after the long bath I took this morning). But when we got up today it was snowing, and as the morning progressed it only fell heavier and heavier. We knew the trains would be a mess of delays, plus we'd get wet walking around Brussels. So we decided to stay in.

I made pancakes for breakfast and we used some of the sacred maple syrup (you can't get it here, so we try to be very sparing with it). It was an adventure trying to make pancakes from scratch using only my one very large metric measuring cup - the smallest measurement on it is like 100 grams, and I needed to measure like 10 grams of baking soda... So there was lots of guesstimation. But they were edible (delicious if you ask G, but he's a pancake newb so you can't trust his opinion!).

After breakfast, I took a bath and G went to the bakery to get some rolls for us to have with the stew I made for lunch. I stayed in the bath so long he made it home from the bakery before I was out. :D We had beef stew for lunch - I made it last night. Its funny that we chose beef stew as our special occasion food, but the beef is so expensive that it really is something we can only have now and then. That was one thing I had cooked for him while he was in Maine that he was eager to eat again, so I made some. It was good, different than usual since so many of the ingredients were a little different, but still very tasty. We both ate so much stew and crusty rolls that we were stuffed, so after lunch we lolled around on the couch.

We just laid around talking for hours this afternoon, and then we dozed off waiting for the ice cream truck to arrive. We were starting to doubt she was coming, thinking she was perhaps scared off by the snow, but she eventually arrived and we both got ooey gooey sundaes. I was able to do about half my order in Dutch, but he had to help me with the nuts and whipped cream. :D After ice cream, it was hours more of lolling on the couch giggling and talking and daydreaming about the baby and reflecting on our year.

It was one year ago, almost to the day, that we met face to face for the first time! Its astonishing to both of us how much has happened in this past year. We went from shy strangers taking a carriage ride around Boston Common to married parents-to-be living in Belgium in 12 short months. We both agreed that while we have no regrets, we never meant for things to happen this fast. We both are kind of shocked at how completely our lives have changed. We've decided that it was meant to be, and we're happy - but I think we are both hoping that life slows down a bit in the year to come!

Little Victory

We had the second childbirth class today. G thought I should go, he is worried we will miss something we should have learned, so I agreed. After all, at least it gets me out of the house! We learned the third type of breathing, and looked at pictures of the baby's position during each stage of labor. Next time (the week after next), we will go to the delivery room and practice pushing apparently. G said he could practice fainting at the same time, but our teacher has no personality, so she was not amused.

After the class, we stopped in to the obstetrician's office to see about getting me an appointment because I suspect another bladder infection (I have already had 2 this pregnancy). They actually took me right in, did a quick ultrasound, a swab, and then sent me to the lab for a urinalysis. The ultrasound showed Luna to be doing well, and I am not at all dilated and have no signs of preterm labor. She went ahead and started me on antibiotics, and is supposed to call tomorrow. Unlike at home, where they leave the room while you undress and then give you something to cover yourself with, here there was a little changing room in the exam room and I was sent in to undress and then had to walk back to the table sans pants. :S Was a bit awkward. Also, G was in the room the whole time. Normally my instinct would be to kick him out during any exam involving stirrups, but I figured we both need to get used to it prior to delivery, so he stayed. He did just fine. :) The only image she printed from the ultrasound was one of my non-dilated cervix, so I didn't bother to keep it.

My big excitement came this afternoon after G had left for work. Every day, once in the late afternoon and once around 8 or 8:30, I have to hear the ice cream truck making its rounds. I begin salivating like one of Pavlov's puppies, but I haven't dared order without G home. But today I did it! I ordered ice cream in Dutch all by myself! And the ice cream lady doesn't speak any English, so the only help I got from her was with the flavor of ice cream, which she remembered from the last time we ordered. But I told her how much I wanted and even said please and thank you! I was rewarded with yummy ice cream. :P Yes, I am kind of ridiculously proud, but little victories!

I've said it before, but again, thank you all for reading. It seems like every day I hear of more people who have been following my blog, and I am so happy your all here! Keep the comments and emails coming, they are like little packages from home!

I'm Allowed to Whine Just a Little, Right?

Just a quick post to say that 32 weeks pregnant is quite enough pregnant! Not that I want her to come early, of course not, but I am getting seriously uncomfortable and this kinda sucks. Was in pain all night last night, a combination of backaches and an obstinate baby who is determined to stretch out to her full height whether there is room in there or not. And today, anytime I am on my feet for more than five minutes I get those Braxton Hicks contractions, which don't hurt, but are definitely uncomfortable. And I am out of breath constantly, even repositioning my bulk on the couch steals my breath. I feel like Jabba the Hut!

I'm also getting REALLY nervous that I won't have insurance in time for delivery. The policeman who has to verify my residency still has not come. G called the town hall Friday and spoke to the woman we had met previously (the one who is also pregnant), and she said she would call him again, but still nothing. Medical care is definitely cheaper here, but nonetheless, having to pay for the entire hospital stay out of pocket could be financially debilitating.

Keep your fingers crossed that she adjusts to her new cramped quarters and stays in there, at least until we have the insurance straightened out!